


Bullying

by awgaskarth0805



Category: All Time Low (Band)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-15
Updated: 2020-04-15
Packaged: 2021-03-01 19:55:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,188
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23662702
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/awgaskarth0805/pseuds/awgaskarth0805
Summary: Alex learns why Blink-182 means so much to Jack.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 5





	Bullying

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is completely based on my seventh grade experience.

“What store should we go to next?” Alex asked Jack as the two of them walked out of American Eagle.  
“Let’s go to Hot Topic! It’s only a few stores down from here,” Jack suggested.  
“I haven’t been in one of those in a while, let’s do it!” Alex replied, following Jack until they reached the entrance to Hot Topic.   
“Let’s look at the wall of band t-shirts,” Jack decided, leading Alex to the back of the store, where all of the shirts were.  
“Damn, I forgot how many different shirts they have here, there’s so many,” Alex said.  
“I know! Hey, they have a new Blink design, I have to get it!” Jack exclaimed, his face lighting up as he dug through the shirts until he finally found his size.  
“Dude, don’t you already have, like, ten other Blink shirts?” Alex asked, laughing as Jack excitedly held the shirt up to himself.  
“Well, yeah, but can you ever really have too many?” Jack continued.  
“I guess not, but I think that you just might. I know you like them a lot, but do you really have to spend the little amount of money you make on buying every single piece of merchandise they come out with?” Alex asked, sounding a bit judgmental.  
“I just really like them a lot,” Jack replied, sounding a bit embarrassed.  
“And there’s nothing wrong with that, but you just seem a bit obsessed,” Alex pointed out.  
“Right, um, I’m going to go pay for this now,” Jack quietly said, looking at the ground.  
“Jack, I didn’t mean-“ Alex tried.  
“No, don’t worry about it. Let me just pay for this, then we can go back to your house, I’ve had enough shopping for today,” Jack decided, before walking up to the counter and leaving Alex by the shirt wall, feeling very confused. He really wasn’t sure what he did to make Jack act so weird, but he felt bad. After taking a deep breath, Alex walked up to the register that Jack was at and waited while his friend bought the shirt.   
Once Jack got his receipt, the two of them silently walked out to the parking lot and over to Alex’s car. As he started to drive to Jack’s, Alex was going to say something, but he looked over to see Jack staring out the window with a sad look on his face. While Alex really wanted to know what he did, he knew that the highway wasn’t a good place to talk about this, so he decided to wait until they got to Jack’s.   
After an awkwardly silent car ride, the two of them arrived at Jack’s and Jack led Alex inside, and up to his bedroom without saying a word. When they got into Jack’s room, Alex saw the five huge Blink posters that were on Jack’s wall, but he noticed Jack looking at his favorite posted with an embarrassed look on his face. Alex walked over to Jack’s bed and took a seat, then looked over to Jack.  
“Jack, are you okay?” Alex asked, finally breaking the silence.  
“Yeah, I’m fine,” Jack replied, not looking at Alex.  
“Are you sure, because you’ve seemed upset ever since we were in the Hot Topic,” Alex pointed out.  
“Fine, I’m a bit annoyed, but it doesn’t matter. What do you want to do?” Jack asked, hoping to change the subject.  
“I’m not doing anything until you tell me what’s going on,” Alex replied, crossing his arms over his chest.  
“Alex, can you please just let it go? I was just being stupid and moody,” Jack replied.  
“Jack, you’re my best friend, and I care about you a lot. I know we’ve only known each other for about a year now, but you know that I’d never do anything to intentionally hurt you, right?” Alex tried. Jack sighed, then took a seat next to Alex on the bed.  
“I know that, and I’m so glad we’re friends. There’s a big part of my life that I’ve not told you about, which is why I got so upset in the store,” Jack started.  
“Something you haven’t told me about? I thought that we’ve told each other everything,” Alex said, sounding a bit hurt.  
“Well, we have, except for this one thing,” Jack replied in a small voice.  
“Do you not trust me? I’d never make you tell me anything that you don’t want to, but I guess I’m just a bit surprised, since I’ve told you everything there is to know about me, the good and the bad,” Alex explained.  
“I know you have, and I’ve felt bad about keeping this from you for that exact reason. Even thought his is really hard for me to talk about, I think that I’m finally ready to tell you everything,” Jack decided in a shaky voice.  
“Well, I’ll gladly listen, as long as you don’t feel forced to tell me about this,” Alex replied.  
“No, I’m ready for this, I think. Here it goes; back in seventh grade, I was bullied,” Jack stated, sounding nervous.  
“You were bullied? Do you mean, like, you wore a dorky shirt to school once and some people ripped on you, or were you actually bullied badly?” Alex asked, surprised that this was the big secret Jack had kept from him.  
“The second option. I was bullied severely everyday by two people who were supposed to be my friends,” Jack said back.  
“Jack, I’m so sorry, I seriously had no idea,” Alex said, at a loss for words.  
“Don’t apologize, it’s not like it’s your fault,” Jack continued.  
“So, what did they do? I mean, as long as you’re comfortable sharing,” Alex replied.  
“Well, I think I need to give you some background first before I can get into what actually happened. So, in the school I went to, you went to all of your core classes and lunch with the same group of kids, so having at least one friend in your class was kind of important. I had two friends in my class; someone I’ve known since grade school, who I’ve had an on and off friendship with, since he had a bit of a mean streak, and a guy who was on my soccer team with some mutual friends. I didn’t know him well, but I was excited for the new friendship. Both of these guys were also already friends, because they were in band together, so I guess I was kind of the odd one out,” Jack explained.  
“Do these guys go to our high school?” Alex asked.  
“Yeah, I’ll point them out to you next time we see them in the hall or something,” Jack replied.  
“Sounds good. So, what did they do?” Alex continued.  
“Well, the school year actually started off great, we were all nice to each other, which was a relief, because I was really concerned about how things would go with the guy I went to grade school with. About a month in, the two of them became a tag team against me. They’d say something mean to me any chance they got, and I used to be very shy and unconfrontational, so I’d never stand up for myself. I’d just take everything they’d say to me, and it really hurt. They made fun of my appearance, which was fucked because we wore uniforms. They also made fun of my family,” Jack continued.  
“Made fun of your family? That’s fucked up,” Alex stated.  
“Yeah, it was. My dad has always been great at math, so sometimes the new friend would come over for help because we had a shitty math teacher that year, but he’d totally talk over my dad, and not take him seriously. My dad also used to drink quite a bit, and anytime my dad would have a drink in his hand, this guy would always point it out in a condescending way, because he knew it would piss me off, and get under my skin,” Jack explained, starting to tear up some.  
“That’s fucked, man. your dad is a great guy who has made some good changes to his life within the last year, which is so awesome for him and the rest of your family,” Alex stated, putting his arm around his friend.  
“Thanks, Alex. I think the worst part of it all was that both of my ‘friends’ constantly said everything they could to make me feel stupid. I’ve always hated science, so I’ve never been great at it, and they always pointed out how bad I was at it. They did that for every subject, and I’m still very insecure academically because of them. It turns out that when you’re told that you’re stupid and suck at school for ra long time, it can really fuck you up in the long run. This is actually the reason I didn’t take that AP history class with you this year, I didn’t think I was smart enough to do it,” Jack explained, tears starting to fall down his face.   
Jack did his best to wipe them away as Alex pulled his friend into a hug. They stayed like this for a few minutes, completely silent, aside from Jack’s crying.  
“I’m so sorry that happened to you, Jack, that’s so messed up. You’re great in school! Maybe not in science, but I saw your English essay when the teacher handed them back today, you got an A on yours!” Alex pointed out.  
“Well, I have always liked English. My English teacher in seventh grade saw how mean these guys were being to me, because our table in his class was next to his desk, so he always stuck up for me, which I was super grateful for. I think he helped me love English and writing, and I always tried hard in his class, since he did a lot for me. That said, I can’t help but feel insecure academically now because of this. A teacher can give me an assignment, and I’ll immediately think that I’m too stupid to do it,” Jack replied, starting to cry more.  
“Hey, it’s okay. You’re not stupid, fuck them. Wait, so how does Blink fit into all of this?” Alex asked, confused as to how this story had anything to do with what he’d said at the mall.  
“Well, the only good thing about my seventh-grade year, is that it was the year I discovered Blink. I found out about them the summer before, but the more I listened to them, the more into them I got. When all of this got really bad at school, I used their music as an escape. I’d get on the bus after a shitty day of being called stupid and being made fun of, and I’d get my iPod and headphones, and just listen o all of my favorite songs of theirs until I got home. They became my escape, and they gave me something to live for when I needed it the most. Eventually, these guys found out about how obsessed I was with Blink, and they used that as another reason to make fun of me and make me feel bad about myself, which really hurt. Like, this band was the only way for me to feel any kind of happiness, and they literally did everything they could to make me feel bad about liking this band,” Jack explained, his voice cracking as he continued to cry.   
Without thinking about it, Alex wrapped Jack into a tight hug, then Jack started to cry in Alex’s shoulder. Alex rubbed Jack’s back as he continued to hug him, hoping he was helping some.   
“Shit, I had no idea that this is why Blink means so much to you. I’m really sorry for what I said at the mall,” Alex said when Jack started to calm down.  
“It’s okay, you didn’t know. I’m sorry I kept this from you for so long. I’ve always trusted you, it’s just so hard to talk about,” Jack admitted.  
“I totally understand, I’d probably feel the same way. Either way, fuck those guys. I’m so sorry you had to deal with all of that, no one should have to go through that. I’m glad that we’re friends, and I’m glad you told me about this. You’re such a great person with so much potential, please don’t forget that, Jack,” Alex stated, sincerely looking at his friend.  
“I won’t, thank you for being such a great friend, and for listening to all of that. Oh, and for letting me cry on your shoulder,” Jack said with a small smile.  
“No problem. Now, I think I know what we should do to cheer you up,” Alex started.  
“What would that be?” Jack asked.  
“We should watch the Blink live DVD on the big TV in your basement!” Alex exclaimed, making them both smile.  
“Last one down there has to set it up!” Jack stated, before they both made a mad dash out of Jack’s room, and into the basement, where they would spend the rest of their Friday night together.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys, this is a fic I've been meaning to write for months now, and finally decided to write earlier tonight. This is exactly what happened to me my seventh grade year, and has always been a big part of my life, which is why I decided to write a fic about it. The only difference, is that the band I fell in love with during everything that I described in this fic was the Red Hot Chili Peppers, which will always be my favorite band of all time, because of this experience. If you guys are ever going through something similar, you can always reach out to me. I post fics like this with the intention of helping people, so just know I'm always here for you guys! As always, feel free to send requests if you have them, I'm working on a couple now, but will always take more. Thank you for reading, it means the world. Lots of love, Liv.


End file.
